The Sun. — London, England, 1838-12-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE. MEMOIRS OF MA THE WS, 2 Vols. J3entley, London, 1838: The most amusing portions of this work are the three or four first chapters, which contain a memoir of Mather evs, from his birth to the period of his first theatrical expi ri meat, written by himself, in that. smart, whimsical st yle Which characterized his "At Holm" sketchs at the E nglish G s oera Flouse. We rea;ti this with great pleagure, so complete a transcript is it cif the auto-biographer's very Peculiar turn of mind ; and - regret much that he did not bye long enough to fi n i s h i t , f or t h e fragmentary contitoraiion by hi s wife, i but a angry Fel-formai - lee, being stuffed'' le tters from I re l an d o f no eart hl y i nterest , an d extracts from the criticisms of the day, of Mathews' early pezfor- Inances in Du blin raid the Em.dish provinces. Still, despite these obvious. &Sects, the continuation will be sure to Ramat, for abundance of characteristic anecdotes are scat tered througi.out it, not ,a few of which will be new to the M ajority of cur readers. We shall extract a few of these at random, but first let us give Mathew's own piquant r collections of the celebrated methodistical preacher -Awl enaLheaver, ffttntingdon. The following is a passage from It sermon which lie heard this fanatic deliver at a well. Known tibernacle " During the space of three years, my broth; en, I secretly wished in my soul that God would favour ma with a chapel of 113 ' Own, bein g sick of the errors that were perpetually b roached by sot ne or other in St. Margaret's chapel where I then preached . ; yet I could not ask God for such a favour, jPinking it was not to be brou g ht about by one so very mean, w, and poor a s myself. However, God sent a person un 'mown to me to look at a certain spot, and afterwards took me to look at it. God stirred up a wise man to offer to build a ch apel, an d to manage the whole work without fee or reward. 'n(l drew the pa tttern in hi:s imagination while he was hearin g Me Preach a sermon. I then took the ground, and the clr.p e l . s prung up like a ?mushroom. I thought after such large proofs of „ r ay prayers bring attended to, I would ask a few snore -o ours. My surtout coat was got very thin and bad, and the 'Weather at that time was very cold; and I felt it as I was g o ing to preach, and I prayed secrety for a coat. As soon 14 I delivered mar discourse, I desired a young man, to fetch t he old great coat, in order to pit it on before I ',rent out of (4 Warm Meetin" c!--house. When he cams back,lf. I he brought ri le a new one. r told him it was not mine ; tie sa id i t was , ; I n i put it on, and it fitted very well. In o il° of the pockets m ere was a letter which informed me that my bl esse d L or d an d a ster had sent it me to wrap, my wortWress carcase in, during the very severe winter. I ha.Zi thought:b y my . continual begging Lo ma ny things of my inclu'igent A:Laster, should we;:ry him. Y mock-modesty had no trly dr:prived me of this new great- ; coat.. Of the eccentric preacher Rowland Hill, who has but 'WY drolleries among Frequently I have see-a bi t r, wield, and poise in the air , an d hake s - . the Bible at his congregation, till he h as d ro pped it "iiitong his thauditory. Thi, pu l p i t cus hi on was another play ing ; I have oft en ex?ected h e wou ld t h row it at me, and I Perfectly recollect ma l .ti' t ig 44 exchanged look A with some of my coin the preparatory action . of a cricketer, myself, to cat companions , youngsters.. eh it when he should hurl it from him with enthusiasm.nd lifiwland Hill, who had the a dvantages of birth 4414inassociatior,, and a college education, should have proudly of thetailucl }As station in contradistinction to the vulgar herd los.) elect ; but he was as remarkable as the most unwashed 17t u neducated of the set, for the preaching-made -easy system. i3:10..a11 mention one or two of his most extraordinary attempts 14 this line. On one occasion he said, " The love of our Lord, breth ren , is like a goo d large round of beef; you may cut it 7!tt com e again." Again—" You all know how diff i c ult it is t i:atch a pig by the tail : you will find it equally so to c atch love of our Lord after backslidings !" I remember Row -1,1,1! Hill from my infancy. He was odd, flighty, absent ••••4 80 „ s So inattentive was he to nicet a y P in dress, -. that Ihave ihe" him enter my father's house with one red slipper and one e; the knees of his breeches untied, and the strings clang -I,::_luivn his legs." u e autobiographer s details of his early vagaries, when F r "! . °3 a poor strolli ng pl a y er ; of his evenings with Geor g e e ‘' e rick Cooke ; and more especially of his introduction uld Macklin—then a veteran of a hundred years of age • and Tate Wilkinson, the eccentric manager of the York ?atre—are highly diverting, though they are too much =1„L• ricatured, evid en tly f or the purpose of making a hit. e follo w i ng , w hi c h i s to ld w ith more simplicity , is as good itriu • anecdote o f it s sort as we have met with for some time. be circumstance t oo k place during one of Mathews's pro tri s to O Ireland : ‘" u • - Iti ct „ ring this voyage an incident occur red worth y of rela. NI ". Talbot, one of the passengers, was a very precise h pter ihni* and somewhat finikin in his manners. These c aracer •on es were not likely to recommend him to the rough sailors . t board. One morning, while pursuing his elaborate. toi rtittke, a noise on deck attracted his attention, and running up t u - ," his tooth-brush in his hand, he inquired the cause of such u " al sounds, which being explained, he remained looking . b "at bad drawn him on deck, and resuming the action of N s is • old -mg, which had been interrupted. One of the men, an me , gruff sailor, looking askance at Talbot, with an e o xpres r - Mf 4 : l , o f ineffable astonishment in his face, inquired a thews, who stood at some distance from his friend, what ls „ -cernpanion there was about? About ?' asked Mr. M., ot . s, ll , lute comprehending the question,. his mouth the , '• What is he at, with that thing in his mouth ? Oh, bVed Mr. M., he is cleaning his teeth.' What, cleaning e l ,,, t keth ?' thundered out the man, Well, its the first time I t beard of such a d--d nasty trick as that Cleaning or t e ,!th, the milksop !' and away he rolled, putting a pinch Rive ° o acc o into his mouth. When an alarm was afterwards nsi th n of the ship's danger, the old sailor exclaimed aloud th a t l a g oath, I knew we should have no luck, when I saw Lubbe r cleaning his teeth.'" 041 ."! that majestic actress Mrs. Siddons whom many of hwl readers have seen, and all have heard of; Mr. Mathews i this entertaining anecdote. The incident occurred e h i , el l she wa s performing Lady Macbeth—her grandest ac",ter— aon the boards of provincial theatre : to The even i ng was excess i v ely hot, and Mrs. Siddons was pe t n lie Pted by a torturing thirst to avail herself of the only available df es Proposed to her at the moment. Her dresser, therefore, i ,,P,atched a boy in great haste to fetch a pnt of beer for Mrs. m°ons, at the same time charging hint to i be quick, as she U lt. : L i n a hurry for it. Meanwhile the play proceeded , and on the "°Y's return with the frothed pitcher, he looked about for Perso n who had sent him on his errand, and not seeing her 1),4 4 , 1. ed, Where is Mrs. Siddons?' The scene-shifter ,""ug to the stage where she was performing the sleeping aye of Lady Macbeth, replied, There she is 1' To the *,r, r 'se arid horror of all the performers the boy p rom p tl y t o - ta ' i ed on the s tage close up to Mrs. Siddons, and with p re unconsciousness of the impropriety he was co . mmir• cmg , Sh e the porter-pot ! Her distress may be tir..agined. wi t Z waved the boy away in her grand manner sr-tem' times s , e ",,uut . effect ; but at last the people - behind scenes sue toirieecid i o n ngett i ng hin ?, off with the beer, part of which he the stage There are a few reminiscences of Sheridan in these til ilt „nes, but none of any interest, with the exception of i tti Tact, whi c h M a th ews ?e l a tes on his own personal know nege, that the author of the " School for Scandal" was th ver at home with the actors, but always felt ill at ease in th e green -room. Moore, if we remember rightly, says just tt : contrary. Of Theodore Hook—who is somewhat tfilectedly styled " the youthful Theodore " ..—we have many k v erting particulars, chiefly with reference to his fondness t i tl e Practi ca l jokes. One of his letters, dated from Mauri -13, is introduced in the second volume, in, which he de tlbes himself pl a yi ng th e p a rt of sentimenicalist, and weep wover the graves of Paul and Virginia ! Kook in tears! L ul l cannot fancy the ph enomen on ! T o heighten the t o e sque of the scene, " the youthful Theodore" appears have wept over the wrong gravel—but this is of no con luence, for one grave :is just as good as another for the 1) ," Poses of the pathet' Ac . We might gather many more t"tlecdotes from these vo l umes , but s p ace and tim e w arn us W t a h close e ; enoughtlerefore to say that they will be read , Pleasure, in spite of their numerous defects of style arrangem ar,t, and of the somewhat lackadaisical ap ea U r : f tl '.o authoress (Mr. Mathews's widow), who in doseribn " 1 1 Waite r S co tt, ca ll s him a `c charming man ;" v e es Lord By ron as a " b eaut if u l man.; " Mr. Hook as 48 Y authful Theodore ;" end her own departed husband u' e. very paragon of created beings ! INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 2 VoLs. Bentley London, 1838. These v o l umes are__ written in a cheerful, intelligent spiri t ; d. if th e y d o mitten us anything absolutely new respecting 1. e ece, Turkey, and Russia, accounts of which countries e constantly issuing from the press, yet they abound in o,,,hic descriptions, some of which—that of the ascent, er ; nlatance of the Acropolis of Corinth—would do no dis- T,"it eve n t o th e c l ass i c e pen of a Eustace or a Matthews, " writer, an American gentleman, named Stephens, p„ Bt ruelr. the soil" of Greece at Missolonghi, though not in b :: A taost agr eea bl e m a n ner , for he "literally stuck in the V" . for some ti me , an d was ' not without consid erable dia. thtorced on shore by the aid of long fishing-poles. Of Ot e town o f Missolonglii, for ever celebrated as the scene Lord B yron ' s d eath, we are informe d t h a t it is in the o st Pitiable state of decay—in fact a mere ruin, with little s ii . t !,° chance o f regenera ti on . M r. S tep h ens , c onsequently, `‘'le but a sho r t s tay in it, and th en h urr ied on to Athens, an 08e arc.,tecturai , remains struck him more forcibly than th: ( similar ruins he had ever witnessed. Here he heard of b rat Maid of Athens," whom " Child e H aro ld" has cele s, ad in on e o f hi s ear li es t lyrics, an d o f w h om h e sa y s , N u_ Tine the M a id was a l mos t an i mag i nary b e i ng, some 141bng fanciful, a crea ti on o f the brain, and not a corporea l T he 'tance, to have a little urchin of a boy. But so it was. ,Maid o f A t h ens i s marr i e d ! Sh e h a d a right to ma rr y, lifeno übt ; and it is sa id th a t there is poetry in married n ow ; and doubtless she is a much more interesting person sh e .than the Maid of Athens at thirty-six could be ; but t, Is married to a Scotchman, yes, the Maid is now Mrs. 1 1 .. lac kt wife of George Black, head of the police, and she 04ar several little Blacks!" This seems to have shocked ,siL.Arnerican traveller " pretty considerably," but his t,t, rat f.plitisrq wore more outraged by the sight of te. °ll °wing ;advertisement which was printed in a Greek th e q'aPer The public lAr e hereby informed, that on nineteenth instant, an Omnibus will commence running between Athens and the Pyra2us, and will continue to do so every day at certain fixed hours, until further notice. The Omnibus starts from the corner of the Hermes and Eolus-streets at Athens, and from the bazaar at the Pyraeus, and will wait five minutes at each place. Small parcels and packages May be sent by this conveyance at a moderate charge. Smoking cannot be allowed in the Omnibus, nor can dogs be admitted!" Imagine a London-built Omnibus with a Greek cad behind it, in the sacred city of the Plato's, the Socrates's, the Pericles's, and the Aspa sia's ! What an insult to the genius loci! Quitting Athens, Mr. Stephens started off for Asia Minor, where he visited the plain of Troy, and thence departed for Constantinople. Having sufficiently explored the wonders of this Imperial City, he coasted along the Black Sea ; halted at Odessa, one of the most flourishing of the Euxine ports ; and after wards visited Moscow and St. Petersburg, which he de srjribes in an easy, unexaggerated style. We have been •.nuch pleased with this portion of his travels ; but, indeed, his vo!umes throughout are full of entertaining matters of information. THE CHRISTIAN'S COMPANION. Dorton, London, 1838. This cheap and elegant little volume, which is most ap propriately styled " The Christian's Companion," contains a selection of passages from the works of Archbishop L4•ighton, and Dr. Owen, Vice Chancellor of Oxfcrd, both of whom stood foremost among the divines of their day, and the former of whom was considered by Dr. Johnson—no mean authority—as one, of the soundest thengical writers this country ever produced. The selec tior is made wish great judgment. S E L 111 A. Smith, London, 1838 A Poem modelled on the Walter Scott style, and dis playing, like most imitations, just that order of poetic ability, which, as Horace assures us, neither Gods, men, nor columns allow. It is, in truth, a merely respectable performance, correct in metre, and amiable in sentiment. THEATRES. DRURY-LANE, The Drury-lane celebration of Christmas-tide and time commenced last night (after the two first acts of Bellin?s Sonnambula), with the display of a new grand comic pan tomime, entitled Harlequin and Jack Frost ; or, Old Goody Hearty. The story is, according to custom, founded upon one of our popular nursery tales, and made up of that blended mixture of marvel and romance, with grotesque ness and absurdity, which has impressed the imagination and tickled the fancy of every rising generation ever since pantomime's were invented—and generations born to rise. The overture introducing Jack Frost to the juveniles was, to coin a phrase, " put together popularly," by bringing in snatches of familiar tunes dearly loved by the merry mobs of London, and accordingly" Rory O'More," " Jim Crow," and "Sick a gittin' up stairs," were fairly shaken hands with by the tremendous gallery audience. The appropriate Jack Frost opening, too, of " My lodging is on the cold ground," was encored. We may here add that the general management of the music all through reflected credit upon Mr. Eliason. The first scene opens with the dwelling near the North Pole, of Druda, the Titania of the fairies in that cold region, who of course exercises all power there and there after—and there is a graceful starry dance of her fairy train by the northern lights, which makes favourable " first im pressions." Then comes the magic story. There is a King (Mr. Howell), who has a sister, the Princess Hump tia Dumptia (Wieland), who will succeed him if he dies unmarried, and who is still, after a fashion, his Queen—for she lords it well, and plays the vixen with dexterous absur dity. For this kind of prowess she is hated by the Court and people, who advise their Monarch " To marry with a wife as soon as may be, And bless his subjects with a little ba-by"— On whichoccasion his Majesty repeats the old joke of She ridan, and says, " If I am to take a wife whose wife shall I take ?" This point, however, as soon settled, for Old Goody Hearty (Madame Simon) has two daughters, in whom the Fairy Queen (Miss Forde) takes an interest—and Blanche (Mr. F. Fenton), the eldest of these is des tined by her for the wife of the King. After this am bitious woman has got a King for a husband, there are all sorts of pantomimic rows got up between her and the Princess Humptia Dumptia—such as a fight for a crown, and other similar illustrations of female quarrel, in which other characters are not lost sight of. For instance, there is the Chamberlain (Mr. Simpson), who having the same name, and not an unsimilar office, made it a joke to dress and look to the life like his late re spected namesake, the master of the ceremonies at Vauxhall. The appearance of a " baby colonel" also afforded a laugh able burlesque, and we heard a Frenchman in our neigh bourhood jeering at him as the " pantomimic grandson of Louis Philippe." But revenons a nos moutons, the new made Queen is unmade presently, and the squalls of royalty de-royalised, until Druda, the fairy, comes in and settles the business of avenging Blanche, by turning her King ex husband into Harlequin, her sister Rose into Columbine ; her ex-sister-in-law, Princess Humptia Dumptia, into a Clown, and the ex-Lord High Chancellor (Mr. Elliot) into a Pantaloon. Now, of course, commence the tricks and transformations, varied and vivified by the droll and clever antics of Wieland from beginning to end. Before the corner of Windmill-street a piano is turned into a coffee-shop—horse-beans are substituted for coffee—jalap for treacle—the beverage brewed, and the internals of tile customers demented accordingly. Finally, Windmill street itself becomes a windmill, and Wieland is taken up, and whirled round by the sails. The mill pun is continued, and there is a brown jar, upon two wooden legs, sur mounted with a young Mill-stone, topped with a 4 ' . we r shovel, and clothed in a cloak and cap, which as man as it is thus dressed like an old woman, walks ' like an old woman off the stage. The mill is claan aed into a ,flotoeogarclon and nursery-house and grog .ids; the little children come out of the nursery ; the clown and Pantaloon throw them into tile hot-bed, there, 4 course, they directly grow up ! We 11 ;tve then a 'actor's shop, kept by Mr. Killem, with q".:dck medicine ptacards, n ex t d oor to an undertaker's, Mr.. 6 i hellem; and the doctor thinks proper to intimate by ra bill, that he has no connection with the next shop. He, however, belies this : for, being presently called upon to cure Clown of a bruised face, he very dexterously decapitates him entirely ; and his head is only safely afterwards re-instated upon his shoulders by the application of " Holloway's Uni versal Ointment," a skit, of course, upun Holloway's cements There is then a coffin scene, in which Undertaker makes play. Clown is measuredand laid down, but the saollin changes into a box ; so that when it is taken off, they are carrying one trunk away in another ! There are some smart hits at general quackery about this part of the pantomime. We have next an imitation of Yates, and a skit at the Bayst• deres ; but the speech that is made is not witty enough, nor did the whole scene make the expected impression, though the burlesque Bayadere swallowed a red hot poker, which ought to have pleased the galleries. A mock Van Amburgh academy, for brute taming, followed, without making a hit, and in its turn was suceeeded by the real Simon Pure with the real lions, who was immensely ttpu plauded. Some more jokes were then tried, A cock was put upon the stage as a New Morning Herald. A book seller's shop illustrated Pope by turning him into a Guy Fawkes of the Vatican—produced Annuals in, the guise of Jacks-in-the-Green—and allowed a host of children to rush from his shop to show that he let out the periodicals. A box i of Murphy's Almanacs also became transplanted into a tin of hot potatoes, which was fair with Frost. Another attraction was now introduced in the persons of the Lehmann and Winther families, who varied for a short time the tone of the exhibition. They were not in the commencement well received, though they performed some really clever tricks, and the Cupid and Columbine were interesting little people. Some of the transformations in this episode of the entertaltr. rnent were good. An egg was laid by a cock in a 11 Maw manner—a Cupid's boat sailed away with effect—an old man in white followed in a washing-tub, with his handker chief for a sail, and some kind friends on sl Thre bl ow i ng hi m along with bellows. The same pars afterwards emerged ": I .aate—trees were transformed from the belly of a fished - up giants, and so forth ; and the into ogres—giant-oaks man in white had, 'mg person divided in a box, his legs and body malting their exit on one •sido of the stage, and his head and shoulders on the other. Next the scene changes to a frost fair on the Thathes,tvith ships, and boats and booths, and an ox roasting and men skating, and snow-balls flying, and a bright, hilarious, busy, bustling turmoil, full of motion, ani mation, and fuss. In the midst of this the tight ropes are fixed, and Iwan de Winther as Zephyr, and Fanny as Flora, dance agilely, gracefully, and beautifully a pas-de-deu.r. The great cheering they received did not surpass their great merit. Iwan then danced alone on the tight rope, and per formed some truly wonderful feats with a pliancy of body, a strength and activity the most remarkable we have ever seen, blended with the ease, grace, and expression of the higher spirit of the art. Your Jumpers are seldom Coulons, nor your Columbines Taglionis. After the breaking up of the fair, and the display of Jack Frost's icicled cavern, the charm of the pantomime is dissolved by the Queen Fairy in the usual way, and the whole exhibition winds up with a brilliant, gorgeous, and magnificent general tableau, full of the crowning effects of melodrama, and really, in point of scenery and arrangement, splendidly produced. Take it all together, Mr. Bunn appears to have spared neither pains" nor expense in the getting up of this pan tomime. The scenery is all good—the features of the lions and the rope -dancing curious and attractive—and there are some clever jokes. There is not enough broad fun in it, however, and it is too long , . It wants to be curtailed, and a little more merry spice thrown into the Christmas mixture. But, after all, there is nothing in the pantomimes to criticise though we arc obliged to talk so much about them to cur holiday friends. And though perhaps a little more noise, wit, and sparkle, would add live blood to the Drury-lane exhibition, yet the world who wish to be amused may go and see it with a fair certainty of attaining that main object. The audience last night was excessively crowded, and there was a good deal of disapprobation expressed at some points of the pantomime, but from its perseverance, and sonietimes from its injustice, we think it came from people who did not wish to be amused. COVENT GARDEN The Christmas pantomime at this theatre, Harlequin an , , Fair Rosamond, is one of the completest in its construc tion, and most diversified in its details, that has been e% ei produced. The pantomime proper grows out of the bur letta of Fair Rosamond, as that associates itself with the contest between Old Dame Nature and the Fairy Art, which constitutes the introduction, and is amicably settled at the conclusion. The scenery of the contest is painted poetry of the subject. Nature has her quiet valley, birds fluttering on the wing, swans floating on the stream, the sun setting in cal m s pl en d our , an d a ll things gradually sinking into repose, when Art calls up her Egyptian pyra mids, Grecian temples, trophies of arms and arts, and, as a last achievement, her arch-supported railways with their rapid burdens cutting along through the air, " the most un kindest cut of all" upon the heart of Old Dame Nature. The powers of the contending Genii are tried by consent on the lovely Clifford, and we thus pass, somewhat re luctantly, from this beautiful introduction, this exquisite frame-work of the piece, into the burletta portion, in which Baron Fitzallan (Mr. C. J. Smith), and King Henry (Mr. Payne), contend in the burletta fashion for the prize of the lady's love. Both these characters are performed with rich comic humour, and the rival serenadings with bagpipes and trombone are alike irresistible. The Signora Gouriette is a very fair Rosamond, quite a fairing, and takes her bowl o f prussid acid, as capaci ous as a washing-tub, with affecting resignation. At this point the Genii interpose ; Nature disowns the whole party, makes Queen Elinor's form as clownish and mischievous as her mind, admonishes his Majesty to look after his dominions, pantaloons old Baron Clifford, and sends Fitzallan and Rosamond dancing through the world. Then come the thievings and buffeting s, the tricks and transformations, amongst which were the change of a coach-load of luggage into a bottle of Harvey's sauce, that of the stock of a match shop into little live Luci- fers, and the multiplication all over the stage of Mr. Double knock's door, and change of all his windows into doors, each with its self-moving knocker, until the whole scene is one great knockery, a pantoknock that fairly bears the bell of the pantomime. As if to include every possible variety, the Bayadercs (whose shawl-dance was encored), the dramatic beasts, with their magnificent red lion, into whose mouth the Clown thrusts not only his head but his whole body. and a dioramic view of the Duomo at Milan, the burning of the Royal Exchange, the departure of the Great. Western, &c., are introduced, and the whole wound up by the reconciliation of the parties and the union of Nature and Art. In fact, the pantomime is overlaid with materials, and will be much improved by curtailment. The machinery occasionally did not work well, and the effect of some of the changes was marred. The repetition was an nounced, and no mistake; and, if this be realised, and the performance compressed into less time by an hour than was occupied last night, a continuous enjoyment may be ex pected for the young holiday-makers, and not less for their maturer friends. Even those who have wearied of harle quinading, whom we suspect to be a greater number than will own to the fact, will look with complacency on the motley shield when nature and art are thus poetically en listed as its supporters. HA YMARKET. The manager who expects to fill his house on what is technically called " boxing night," without the aid of pan tomime, will, we imagine, always find himself mistaken in his calculation. It was npt surprising, therefore, that, even with the laughter-moving aid of Mr. Power, the Haymarket Theatre should last night have been unable to boast of so crowded an audience as usual. A pantomime at Christmas, is to the play-goer, like plum-pudding after his Christmas dinner, a dish with which he does not like to dispense once a year, but too cloying to be often repeated ; and wherl the public regain their natural appetite for which a very few days will suffice, the pleasant trifles Mr. Webster caters for them will, from the force of contrast, be doubly relished. The pieces last night were The Youthful Queen, O'Flannigan and the Fairies, and Tom Noddy's Secret. None of them are new. The last is very laughable' and was played with full spirit by Strickland, Buck stone, Miss Taylor, &c., which latter lady, by-the-bye, in the first piece, when performing the character of the Youthful Queen, excited a roar of laughter by elevating her Prime Minister to the dignity of Grand Master of the Polar Star—an office, though doubtless, sufficiently high to satisfy the ambition—far too cold and chilly to excite the envy of any Minister. O'Flannigan and the Fairies, though not new, was played here for the first time, and was, of course, the principal attraction of the evening. It turns, as our readers probably remember, on the bewilderment of a poor Irishman's brains, who, having been persuaded by some emissary of the Temperance Society to renounce whiskey for a year, which now expires the day previous to his mar riage, is prevailed upon by his rival to visit a f a i r on t h e last day of his single blessedness, where, according to due precedent, lie gets his fill of whiskey and fighting both. " When the liquor is in the wit is out," and Phelim O'Flaunigan (Mr. Power) not being the than fb give the lie to so respectable a proverb, darts to bid defiance not only to all the evil sparks of darknev , - • • cut even to the " goo d peop l e " ( Anglice, fair— ' punished by a " Midsumr— _..) themselves. s - se is of which Obern' -..0r night's dream," in the cetirse of thei- ntania, Puck, Priar Tuck, and the rest • ._ motley crew, not only play frolics enough in hi s enamber to disconcert, as h e sa y s , any respectable man's household ; but whisk him away to England and lodge hitil in a wine cellar in LancaSter, where he is apprehended as a thief, condemned to be hanged, and is actually brought out to the place of execution. A reputed witch saves him, and he is again whisked back in time to find au adver tisement on his own door, offering, on the part of his late betrothed, now the wife of his rival, a reward a si. tile discovery of his body, which has been missing for more than eight days. Of course all this turns out to be a dream ; but the bewilderment and incredulity of Phelim, as the reality is gra dually unfolded to his astonished senses, are comic in the highest degree, and do infinite and equal credit to Mr. Power as a dramatic writer and as an aetots He has 'alsiJ akt excellent drunken scene, in which he 'dons &el• by the light of a lanthorn the rules and regulations laid down by himself against future excess in his " public and private dhrinks," and which, like the final clauses of an act of Parliament, have loop-holes big enough to roll a dozen hogsheads of whiskey through them. Mrs. Fitztvillirp was Mary, and sang several appropriate teengt, t 4 well-known Irish airs. Webster has ati amusing character ; and thus supported, together with the aid of singing, jigging, fighting, and fairy fun and frolicking, we doubt not that Power's Phelim O'Flannigan will have a most successful holiday run, AMELPit. , , The Christmas entertaiiinient provided at thi s house last night elicited shout'S of applause from the happy urchins who, escaped from the terrors of birch, fancy all imaginable pleasures comprised in plum-pudding and pantomime. After " Jim Crow" was jumped to admiratien—.the popular songs being encored four times ; and the tietibfinanen of that general favoutite tvith till kit Yorkshire school masters of the Sgiteers t family, " Nicholas Nickleby"— a new pantomime was produeed i entitled ilarle4ain and the Silver Dove or, Me .rttiPy Of The Golden Ladder. The usual oteluab leading to the tricks and transformation" introduces Baron Runigrunt,q. sort of being invested with mysterious influence,_ bearing off his daiighter from Ronan, 4 peasant, *ho is deeply enamoured of her, and to whoth she is lib less attached. The lovers, how evet, are 'Vey soon brought again together, through the kind interference of Gloriana (Fairy of the Silver Dove), who employs a number of her attendant sprites to construct a golden ladder for the purpose. The result is that, at the instance of the good Fairy, the Baron's fair daughter is transformed into Columbine, and her lover Florian into Harlequin. The Baron, at the same time, exercising his power, changes two most unsightly-looking characters—the one into Clown and the other into Pantaloon. From this moment the scene of bustle and extravagant drollery con tinues without interruption down to the falling of . the cur tain. Several of the devices are or i g i na l and ingen i ous, and " broad grins" b e i ng th e ma i n o bj ec t soug ht, was attai n ed to the fullest ex t en t. Th e h ouse was cr owded in every part. The several performers exerted themselves to the utmost, and were rewarded with roars of laughter froni motley assemblage in the gallery, and the juvenile auditors in the boxes. OLYMPIC; Mr. Charles Mathews made his first appearance last evening since his return from America. One cannot ima gine any reception more warm and cordial than that which he met with from his old friends at the Olympic. We need not say how much we are rejoi ce d at t hi s . B o th on his father's account and his own, we h ave a liki ng f or Charles Mathews, independently of his merits as a most lively and agreeable actor ; and it was with great pleasure we found that his friends in London seemed earnestly desirous of making up by their kindness for all the harsh and preposterous treatment which he met with in the United States. It was in the second pi ece o f t h e ev ening, Patter versus Clatter, that M r . M at h ews a ppeared, looking full of life and health, th oug h a l mos t a s thin as his father was when 'Fate Wilkinson told him he was only fit to play the starved apothecary in Romeo and Juliet," and would require stuffing for that." For seve ral minutes the performance could not go on for the cheering from all parts of the house, and cries of " Welcome back to England !" Mathews seemed rather to have forced the air of liveliness with which he hounded on the stare and this reception appeared in some degree to overset nun. Be soon recovered his self-possession, however, and rattled away with infinite volubility through his monologue and the interspersed songs. He announced his own re-appearance " every night," amid much applause, and was afterwards called before the curtain, in order, no doubt, as the audi ence, and probably he himself, expected, to make a speech. But his heart was too much in his mouth to allow of suc cess in this attempt. " Ladies and Gentlemen," be said, " I really—l—thank you, with all my heart. I but I cannot answer kindness. Where I thought I was ill used, the words flowed, and I spoke as easily as if—. Really, Ladies and Gentlemen, you must imagine for me what I should Fay, for I cannot—cannot say it ;" and with this, off h e ran. SURREY. The manager of this theatre may, with great truth, ex claim, Oh ! muckle is the power that lies in" pantomime, for no sooner were his doors thrown open than pit, gallery, and boxes were filled to repletion, and the difficulty was to find not standing, but breathing room. Though nume- rous, the audience was not very select ; but as the persons present had obtained admission by means of " the sinews of war," and not through the medium of free admissions, they were allowed all those privileges, and somewhat more, which belong to the real patrons of the drama. In short, their behaviour was as free and unconstrained, as their dress and complexions were various. It has long since been emphatically proclaimed by the good public, that at Christmas a pantomime is about the most soul-absorbing entertainment of which the stage can boast, and this fact was strikingly illustrated here last night. for the " cele brated" drama of Oliver Twist passed off in dumb show, and the pathos and humour of " Boz," were alike dis regarded. Until the curtain drew up for " the lion of the night," the house was a perfect Babel ; but then the influence of the god of silence prevailed, and all eyes be- came rivetted on the stage with a laudable anxiety to see whit the wonders were that the magician of this esta . blishrnent had devised for the amusement of his holiday visitors. The pantomime (" written," as the bill singu larly enough states," by the inventor of other popular pro- ductions," ejusdem generis) is entitled Harlequin and the Enchanted Figs ; or, The Little Yellow Man qf the Golden Mountains, and founded on a well-known nursery tale under the latter title. Prince Hyadeand, afterwards Har lequin (Mr. Deulin), is enamoured of the Princess Ruby lip, afterwards Columbine (Miss Sharpe) ; but the hand of the fair lady is destined by her father Oddnob, King of the Roundheads, afterwards Clown (Mr. Boleno), for Prince Littlebrain (Master Young) whose suit is also favoured by Funnyface, consort of Oddnob, afterwards Pantaloon (Mr. Simon) Golderkin, the Gnome King, and Little Yellow Man of the Golden Mountain (Mr. Morelli), however, favours the pretensions of Prince Hyadeand ; but the latter, having suffered himself to be deprived of the c h arme d h orn an d b e lt w ith w hi c h he had been furnished by his fairy friend, is about to lose his mistress, when the former comes to his aid, and effects the transformations which give life and spirit to the scene. The dumb eloquence of Harlequin, Columbine, the C:own, and Pantaloon, was highly relished, and their feats of manual wit and humour obtained for them repeated applause ; but their exertions were not, we regret to be obliged to say, seconded to the extent we could have wished by the mechanists. In the prelude there was some extrava gant humour, which as it made people laugh, answered the end of amusement, but the attempts at satire—that which gives to pantomime its only true flavour—were lamentably defective. Some slight reference was made to the manner in which the managers of the Royal and Adelphi Theatres cater for the public taste, but little or no advantage was taken of political matters, with the exception of some senseless allusions to the register of hackney coaches, " Durham mustard," and " Cabinet tools for exportation." Even these topics were not made to tell in the proper way. The scenery, however, was well painted, and it is impos sible to bestow too much praise on Mr. P. Phillips's Picto rial Annual, or, Grand Diorama, which represents a tour on the Danube, commencing with a view of Belgrade, passing on to Buda and Breste, and then tracing hi its course the valley and fortress of Bretko, the castle and ramparts of Presburg, the market-place of Oedenburg, Vienna at sunset, Schoenbrunn, Durenstein, and St. Mi chael Melk, and finally Ratisbon, with the French troops forcing the passage of the bridge against the Austrians, and Napoleon wounded. VICTO1?1A. The Christmas entertainments, provided for the visitors of this theatre, commenced last night under the favourable auspices of a crowded and good-humoured audience. The pantomime rejoiced in the attractive title of Harlequin and the Spirit of the Elfin Glen, and, according to the autho rity of the bill, which we do not feel disposed to dis pute, it was " Romantic, Germanic, legendary, serio and operatic," The dramatis personce are really very pleasant personages t the loves of a young German huntsman and an imprisoned beauty excite the cOmpassion of the Elfin Queen and the sympathy of the audience whilst the terror occasioned by OA flat tl appdfitide of Bailin Oreathead and the grim sorceress Mopsa, was speedily relieved by the amusement which they were doomed to afford in the characters of clown and pantaloon. The harlequinade was as rich In fltn and frolic, merry symbols, metamorphoses, and confusion ; a 8 the mat eitratagAnt raticy could conceive. i l ttitnPrtot as Harlequin, and Mrs. Worrel as Colum- I nine, were active and elegant ; and Mr. C. Macdonald as Clown, displayed no small ingenuity and invention in the modes of distorting his face and body. The scenery was altogether excellent ; and there were several that would reflect than c great credit that names o o f n A a i r r t . is c ts . w 3 h . o j s a e mes. It is evident that much better known to ve r ry end el e e r ga t n li t e l i y got up ; r j u u the expense work is is the illustfations titd specimens of art ; the binding and decorations a re tasteful ; the sub j ect Is late amusing, and the characters are well sustained. I here' earl the Christmas management present have a t v4 e spared ptabi e le doubt of its becoming popula r . Miter ting and le littl CITY OF LONDON. The eadtaihittentg, tit this . stitig little theatre were of a varied and agreeable eharaeteil The first iiiede a temantic drama called The Scarlet Mantle , is a riciV piiitludiaa tram as we understand, the pen of Mr. Wilks. We cannot d*eit upon the plot, as, in truth, there was no possibility from the Noise which prevailed among the unruly -spirits aloft; ti t eryotigh, of the dialogue to comprehend Very well what the plot really was f btit there were some extremely clever brigand and other picturesque scenes, and while all were pleased with Miss Vin cent, as the bandit's bride, the gods were delighted with the, drolleries .of Mr. Gardner, as Mr. Cornelius Vtritttlilecidif; dti aykward zsitd „unsophisticated Englishm an that, like a host of others , scuts reereilticiii in ti trip qn the Continent. Forester, who had not previously made his bow at this theatreovas very favourably received, bus the part assigned him in The Scarlet Mantle was not quite so adapted to his peculiar talent as some of those in which we W'e been accustomed to sec him at the Strand. In the ttrdeht initatikie he i tiertotiged a stiendthfift Lard of May awe, named Leopold de Cayeiine, dri atreniely solemn, moody, and uninteresting personage. The whole vVoillid up, however, much to the satisfaction of the audience, and no doubt it will have a good run. We must not omit to mention than in the first act, a carriage drawn by real hor3e3 was driven across the stage and attack e d by ban ditti. 'rho scene reminds one of some of the moving ificidohts of the, sathp kind which we meet w ith i n Gil W as , Materiel's whimsical trifle, The Kingdom of Women, was the second piece of the evening, and it afforded Mi s s Vincent au opportunity of introducing several favourite airs, which she executed with her usual taste and ability. Her attire, 43 Queen Elizetta, was particularly good. The concluding pertiititian t 6 Oats a new pantomime, by Lee, to which the title of Jane Shore, of itadequin and the Baker of Shoreditch, has been given. It abounds in laughable matter, and was consequently quite to the taste of the holiday folks. Mr. Searbrow as Clown, and Mr. Ranson as the Demon of Discontent, called forth repeated and hearty plaudits by the endless pranks they played, and the grotesqueness of their ever-varying habili men ts. The introduction of the masks was a good idea, and we were greatly pleased with the scene representing London Bridge in the olden time, by moonlight. The whole of the even ing's diversion passed off very pleasantly. The house, we may add, was crowded to overflowing. MA it IT.L.E/j ONE: On the north-west side of tho liegept's Parh, in New Church•street, near Portman-market, is sittlatad a small building which, divided into the three usual compartments of boxes, pit, and gallery, and containing a row of lamps, a small stage, some blue fire, and other necessaries for dra matic representation, is entitled a " theatre." For some time past the massacres of melodrame and the extravagance of farce have been therein displayed to the delight of the not very select, audiences which have nightly congregated. In addition to th ese attract i ons , w hi c h last night assumed the titles of The Mad Mark, or the Black lieiniti f and The Captain's not a-Miss , a pantomime, the univero treat of the holiday-makers of this season, was pro duced with its invariable accompaniments of ugly ogres and fairy sprites—young shepherds and their rustic belles—and all the fun of the harlequinade —called Marrow-bones and Cleavers. Of these we are bound in justice to express, as far as our limited view would allow us to form an opinion, our decided approba tion. Great care had evidently been bestowed on " the getting up" of the pieces, and the corps drainatique exerted themselves to the utmost. We saw occasional glimpses of talent ; and, under the circumstances, we were fully satis fied. Of the state of things before" the lights" we cannot speak in terms so favourable. We did not, of course, ex pect to find in a theatre of this nature, where the charge for admission is but a trifle, more especially on the evening of a general holiday, an audience fashionable, select, or even, according to the cotunion use of the word, respectable ; but we were no prepared for the revolting scene of dirt and drunkenness which the audience of last night presented to our view. A mass of some hundreds of men, women, and children, even infants at their mothers' breasts, was collected, heaped up on one another, within a space incapable of holding with any convenience dr comfort one quarter of those present. Not only personal neat• ness, a boasted characteristic of English people, but de cency of appearance was entirely put aside. The fustian coat was thrown off from the back of the dissolUte me chanic, and his brawny arms, black with muscle and with dirt, were laid bare over the shoulders of his female com panion, whose dress, half open, and whose flesh, half washed, exhibited the loathsome spectacle of a dirty woman. Seeing this, we thought that little credit was due to the authorities under whose sanction such an exhibition was allowed nightly to take place, and that slight addition indeed to public morality or public happiness was made by granting licenses to theatres where public decency is so openly violated. SADLER' S WELLS. Last night this theatre was crowded in every part by the holiday folks of the north-eastern part of the metropolis. In addition to the attraction of the drama of Oliver Twist, which was repeated for the 17th time, a new pantomime, entitled Harlequin and Little Tommy 'nicker, and which is founded on the well known poem printed by Master New berry, over against the statue of Queen Anne, in St. Paul's Churchyard, and commencing thus : • Little Tommy Tucker sung for his supper, • How shall he cut it without ere a knife? What shall he have? White bread and butter. How shall be marry without ere . a wife ? After an introduction - of the usual description to this species of entertainment, in which two lovers are tormented by the machinations of a young giant, the audience are in troduced to his father at supper, but his head and shoulders only are introduced, and they are of such a size as to oc cupy the whole of the scene. The lovers are transformed into Harlequin end Columbine, and their tormentors into Clown and Pantaloon. The pantomime is superior to those generally produced at the minor theatres, and many of the tricks excited the most uproarious mirth on the part of the audience. The scenery, too, was of a cha racter highly creditable to the managers of this theatre, and included two well executed dioramic paintings by Messrs. Marshall and Meadows. Altogether the pantomime met with a most favourable reception, and we have no doubt will prove a source of great attraction. The first piece was not eery attentively listened to in consequence of the crowded state of the theatre ; but immediately the curtain drew alp for the pantomime a calm ensued which continued without interruption, except by the hearty laugh ter and inexhaustible mirth of the crowded audience. PAVILION. The manager of this theatre, having determined to vie with his more fashionable opponents of the west end, pre sented attractions of no ordinary character to the less classic audience which was furnished by Whitechapel and Mile-end. The history of Jane Shore, which in its original dramatic form was called upon to furnish for the amusement at Covent-garden, was made to do duty here also in the shape of a melo-drama, the tale being altered only in a very slight degree. The character of the un fortunate mistress of Edward the Fourth was filled ex ceedingly well by Mrs. W. West, whose name is already well known to the public, while the remaining personages were well represented by the various other performers. The piece was evidently exceedingly carefully got up, and allowing for the mishaps of a first representation, went off with great success. The melodrama was followed by a new negro farce, written expressly for Mr. Rice, called Jumbo Jun:, in which the original of all Jim Crows appeared, and repeated his oft-told tales of " Jim Crow," and " Sich a getting up Stairs," much to the delight of the East enders. The farce, it would be needless to say, appears to have been composed only as a vehicle for intro ducing Mr. Rice's peculiar representation of the negro character, and any critique on its merits or demerits would be almost uncharitable. Finally, the good people of St. Thomas's were treated with the new comic pantomime called The Rose of Stepney; or, Harlequin and Old Father Thames, produced under the management and superintend ence of Mr. Jefferini, who sustained the part of Clown, in which he had distinguished himself at Covent-garden some seasons ago. The introductory plot was of the same cha racter as all other introductory plots of the same description. Mary Snowdrop (the Rose of Stepney), being beloved by Robin Fairlove,a sailor, who, on his return from sea, however, finds her about to be married to Master Simon Gosling, at the desire of her father. Old Father Thames and Carolina, a deity from the " deep, deep sea," interfere to prevent the match, and the usual transformation is the result. Miss Bullin being the Columbine. Mr. Jefferini the Clown, Mr. Toegman the Pantaloon, and Mr. Smithers the Har lequin. The usual fun then commences, and the accus tomed tumbling and mischief follow through a variety of very amusing scenes, until at last the lovers are caught in Puddle-dock, and the pantomime terminates in the ac customed happy way in the magnificent grotto in the palace of Old Father Thames. The pantomime affords an op portunity for tlic introduction of a variety of very pretty scenery, and the last scene is one which reflects great cre dit on the painter and the manager. A good idea was also introduced in the representation of the grand submarine palace of Father Thames, by the Thames Tunnel. The " comic business," as itis technically termed, does not lack fun, and the spirit was kept up in good style throughout. The three pieces were well received by a well-filled house —the " superior" members of the audience, however, as is customary on boxing night, not omitting to express their impatience for the pantomime. DUBLIN-MONDAY. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) There was never a greater dearth of exciting news from this part of the United Kingdom than at the moment I write. What the ne.v year, and tlle Special Commission into Tipperary, may produce in this way, cannot be antici pated. Judges Burton and Perrin are selected for - the dis charge of a very serious and important duty, which, it is hoped, will be salutary at this season, and impress upon the thine of the people at large a conviction of the neces sity of subjectieg some portion, at least, of our country to the ordeal of justice, tempered with mercy, before we can all hope tp participate in the blessings consequent upon a transition from µn old and vitiated system, to a new and an an-ielloroted order of ta;Pss. I have said tliere is no exciting tripic just now. There is no want, however, of afrttntlence of conjecture as to the po sition of par ties at the meeting of Parliament, and the pro bable modifications which the Ministry may receive before its termination. An opinion prevails in matey quarters, since flee conclusion of the last Session, that it was then the intentida of Ministers not to meet Parliament again ' without having mai-strolled themselves and their forces, so as to be in a stronger position for forwarding those measures of reform still called for, than they have hitherto been. Recent events have not much shaken this opinion, not withstanding the disbelief of Tory statements for some time past, Wlvich, amongst other fictions, alleged that Lord Nor manby was not to return. The latter has, in your Journal of Saturday, been contradicted, to the great joy of many. Still, there is an impression abroad, that the Government requires our good Governor's aid in the House of Lords, if not in the Cabinet ; and that it might promote the public service and the welfare of the nation to secure his services at head quarters, and send here some other friend of Reform, to follow the example now happily established for Lord Lieutenants of Ireland—that is, to consult the interests and welfare of all classes of her Majesty's subjects. Such ru mours, however, must be afloat as long as the nearly balanced state of political parties renders the long tenure of office, by either Whig or Tory, uncertain. In this country such a state of things is to be regretted, because it has a great influence on all those public and private transactions of life not immediately depending upon Government ; and it is therefore the duty of a wise Administration to shape their course so as to put an end, as much as possible, to all expectations of change, except those called for by public opinion. Now, it is perfectly clear that public opinion— even that portion of it least enamoured with the Whigs— is decidedly hostile to Toryism ; and it consequently follows, that in any change contemplated by the Sovereign, Minister, or people, that party cannot expect the ascendant. It is this conviction, in fact, that induces the most shrewd and intelligent Tories to report the probabilities of a coalition ; and the present aspect of affairs favours the rumour. For, something like equality of r;ghts, and, what O'Connell would call, a great instalment of justice, being established in Ireland, it is undoubtedly the duty of a good Govern ment to endeavour to conciliate parties, and establish gene ral confidence in the Administration. There is an approximation to a state so devoutly to be wished for at this moment. O'Connell has put the Precursor Society on a new foundation, unobjectionable to any man believing in the efficacy of progressive reform in Ireland—a country so long requiring improvement of any kind. On the other hod, there are some indications of a subdued tone on the part cif certain prominent Tory Members of Parliament, w h ose hostility to the interests of the great body of their countrymen may not be so distinguished in the next, a s it has been in past : Sessions. It is likely that there will b e ere of the " vigorous administration" more witnesses in tu.:. than my Lord Donough of the law by Lord Nork: anb Y' more in the House of Lord'. INCENDIARISM.—We lament to see that there have been more incendiary fires in Saloi; anti Hereford shire. The Shrewsbury Chronicle contains in acidit: ion to the fires before reported in that paper, two more, at mbich the destruction of property was great. took On Tuesday afternoon an explosion of gas place at the liatclif: G as W or k s , which did ver y o°' ; - siderable damage to the p rem i ses . Th e accidol 1 i s said to have arisen from the bursting of a retort. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS The Bury Post contains a long report of a dinner given on Friday last by the Norfolk and Suffolk Agricultural Association to the Marquis of Chandos, in a spacious booth erected in the yard of the White Lion Inn, at Eye. The number who sat down to dinner amounted to nearly 350. Sir Edward Kerrison was in the chair, supported on the right by the Marquis of Chandos, Lord Castlereagh, Sir C. B. Vere, Sir C. Blois, E. Wodehouse, Esq., W. Ilolmes, Esq. &c., and on the left by the Marquis of Tweecidale, Lord Mahon, Colonel Rushbrooke, Lord Henniker, &e: The Martinis of Chandos, as usual eu logised ie Corn.'lawe, the repeal of which would be a death-blow to the prosperity of the British farmer ; and he declared ;—" if they were to have associations formed for the repeal of the Corn-laws—if they were to have itinerant preachers, and lecturers after lecturers declaiming against those laws, and holding up such gentlemen as their worthy chairman and every landed proprietor as idious—he would call on the tenantry and the landowners to come boldly forward, and chow by their firmness that they would not surrender." This de claration was of course greatly applauded. We did not expect a surrender without a struggle. The Noble Me?. quis may exclaim, as others before him have exclaimed, no• surrender! But in 394 cases the etTe•ct does not always correspond to the intention. To hear the Noble Marquis, he cares only for the British farmer. " When the ports of the Continent were blockaded, and when the grea - t ruler of the destinies of Europe forbade all intercourse w :th this country, was it not the British farmer who enableu a this country to continue the war ? Without the British &reel . it could not have stood in its proud and triumphant situa tion ; but it would have been overcome by that country which it had vanquished by its internal resources.—( Cheers.) They now put themselves forward again—the same honest —the same bold—the same unconquerable yeomanry.—(Cheers.)" Who denies the imporLance of agriculture, or conceives that it can be successfully con ducted by ignorant and spiritless clowns ? How disin-- terested are the landowners ! Not a word of their own in terests, They are above being influenced by such paltry considerations as rents. All they care for is the farmer— the British farmer. The British landlord would himself submit to any sacrifice ; but then his heart bleeds at the thought of the British farmer suffering ! As his Loru‘ship''s tenantry are not favourable specimens of the British fare ter, but among the most backward in the island, this sort .1f twaddle may possibly go down with them. He happened, however, to be then in a district where the British farmer, appears to more advantage, and we trust the spirited yeo manry of Norfolk and Suffolk are not the dupes of all this pretended disinterestedness. The Marquis of Tweeddale, indeed, furnished a rather awkward commentary on his Lordship's speech, Mr. Wodehouse having observed, " thot there was another Noble Marquis on his left, who came from Scotland, and in no part of Europe bad agricul ture flourished more than there. No matter whether they lived in Norfe,lk or Suffolk, on hot land or on cold land, on blow-av:ay land, or any other sort of land, there was nes point on which Scotland could not give them some instruc tion. She could hold the candle to most of them, an& they would all do wisely in taki n g a l ea f f rom her book."' When the Marquis of Tweeddale's health was drunk, he very candidly remarked that the Scotch farmers succeeded, be cause they had too much good sense to trust to the patron age of men who disguised their desire to have high rents under a pretended regard for the British farmer. "At the period," said Lord Tweeddale," when he became acquainted with that Society (the Highland Society of Scotland), it was not in the most flourishing state ; it was at a time im mediately after the war, when everything was looking badly for agriculture ; but when the farmers of Scotland saw that they were receiving a very low price for their grain, and that they had nothing to depend upon from the Legislature, they put their shoulders to the wheel, and. said, Let us try by every exertion and ingenuity of our own whether we cannot, with low prices, be able to hold up our heads as we formerly did when we received high prices.' Such was the fact, and it was pleasing to recollect that for the last twenty years the Society had been gradu ally going forward." He afterwards added—" Reference had been made to the Corn-laws ; and one of the Hon. ' Members present had stated that he should be sorry to see the Corn-laws supported for the sake of one class ; so should he ; but he would observe that there was a pros pect that agriculturists, from the improvements they might effect, would be able to do away with the Corn-laws. If; where they formerly produced two quarters of wheat on an acre of land, they could manage to grow five quarters, they might do away with the Corn-laws and be richer than before.—(Cheers.)" So much for the Marquis of Chandos's disinterested regard for the British farmer. We are far from recommending an estrangement between land lords and farmers. The landlord and the tenant may mix together with advantage to both. But the Corn-laws were not passed for the farmer but for the landlord, and it is for the sake of rents, and rents only, that they are retained. The manufacturer has the same interest in agricultural improvements that the farmer has in the improvement of the machinery of the manufacturer. The interest of all the producing classes is the same. The farmer benefits by the inventions of Arkwright and Watt, which give him an extended market; and though the inventions of agriculture are less splendid, yet William Dawson, who first cultivated turnips on raised drills, led to an enormous increase of food obtained at ra l really cheaper rate. Lincolnshire may be described as a little kingdom gained to agriculture. These are the improvements which every man hails, but the improvement falsely so called, which consists not in cheapen.. ing production, but in forcing up prices by narrowing supply, is injurious to every class but the landowners, and must ultimately be injurious to them by de stroying the market afforded by successful manufac tures. The squires pretend that this country ought to be independent of all others for the supply of human food. We will assume, for the sake of argument, that high duties on importation can keep the supply equal to the demand. But is this beneficial to the British farmer ? If enough is grown in ordinary years, more than enough may be grown in other years ; and the consequence of forcing up prices artificially is, that the farmers have no means of relieving themselves of a glut by exportation. Hence the most intelligent agriculturists have always been hostile to Corn-laws. William Dawson, to whom Briti s h agr i cu l ture owes more than to any other individual, wrote a book against Corn-laws. If agriculture must suffer in years of abundance from the want of a market abroad, manufactures suffer constantly from the home monopoly of food. The manufacturer's price at home is determined by the price he receives abroad. The price abroad is fixed by the com petition in the foreign market, and as no man would ex port if he could obtain more at home than abroad, the price abroad must be the price at home, with the addition of freight and other necessary charges. The British Le gislature gives to the foreign manufacturer a protecting duty equal to the difference between the price of food in Britain and the price he pays. Hitherto the British ma nufacturer has struggled manfully to bear up against this evil by all manner of inventions for abridging labour, but there is a point beyond which exertion cannot be carried ; and it grieves us to learn from the greatest manufacturers in the world, the men at Manchester, that they are at length fairly brought to a stand. We have now no alter native but ruin to British manufactures, and consequently ruin to British agriculture, or destruction of the tax levied by the landlords on the industry of the country. With the farmers we sympathise ; with the landlords we do not. We hold them up as the enemies of the best interests of the nation—as men who avail themselves of their powe in the Legislature to rob the rest of the community. Hi therto the injustice has been submitted to because the in dustrious classes knew that the landlords would not yieTtli without a severe struggle—and men who have pro perty embarked in trade, are naturally averse to agi tation, and only have recourse to it in the last ex tremity. But the necessity has now arrived, and thein dustrious classes, like sensible men of business, know the importance of snaking short work of the business. By putting their shoulders fairly to the wheel they will move the landlords. From Manchester the word has gale forth, and the call will be answered from one end of the island to the other. Already we perceive signs of move ment in London. A few days will enable us to communi cate the accounts of meetings in Leeds and other great towns. If the manufacturers have lately been patient, it is not because they were the dupes of the hypocritical lan guage of the squirearchy. But they understand too well what is meant by economy of labour to throw away any of their steam power. Now, however, that they have set about the work in good earnest, they will with their usual good sense apply the necessary power. When the steam' is fairly up it will be found sufficient to move the squires from positions which they hold by setting all justice and equity at defiance. The reign of injustice has only been too long ; but, thank God! its term approaches ; and we shall soon see England freed from the restrictions Aida threaten to strip her of her pre-eminence in arts and ia dustry.—lllorning Chronicle. The Lord Mayor is entitled to the warmest gratitude of his fellow-citizens, and of the inhabitants of the metropolis and its suburbs in general, for the unabating zeal and ability which he continues to display in ascertaining and defeating the intrigues and combinations in the coal trade --nor is gratitude less due to the individual (Mr. Bradfield) on whose valuable suggestions and information the Lord m a yor was induced to take up tha subject. It now appears from indisputable authority, confirmed by no less a person than the Chairman of the Navigation Committee, that the very same coals for which the public are paying at this time from 28s. to 335. a ton, might be put into every one's cel lar at 20s. 6d., were it not for the double-headed combi , nation which exists at the pit's mouth and in London to keep up the price of this most important necessary of life. Any one who can be instrumental in breaking up or defeat-